Page 38 - Town of Brighton Annual Report 2023

Essex County Sheriff’s Department Report to Brighton Select Board for
the period of January 01, 2023 to December 31, 2023

Our current contract in Brighton is for an average of 40 hours per week. During 2023, we responded to 141 incidents in
Brighton. We wrote over 114 tickets and 257 warnings for motor vehicle violations in Brighton. Throughout the county
we responded to 648 incidents. We did not spend the hours in Brighton we wanted to due to staffing shortages and hope to
increase patrol hours for the town to meet their requested contract hours in 2024. The contract is based upon hourly billing so
unexpended funds remain with the town.
During 2023, the Sheriff’s Department officers issued over 463 traffic citations and 691 warnings. Our Department continues
to conduct Special Investigations Unit Services for the Essex county cases of sexual assault and child abuse. We are
continuing another year of patrolling V .A. S. T. trails through a contract with V.A.S.T. This year we will be conducting
Occupant Safety Checks, distracted driving patrols, and DUI patrols under grants from Vermont Highway Safety. These grant
programs enhance the services delivered to your community. Our court security contract this year accounted for a quarter of
all of our contract time. The courts are continuing to resolve cases in an effort to remove the backlog of cases. This impacts
our small department by requiring testimony ans service of subpoenas in addition to serving as court security. Many of our
contracts this year were under-spent due to staffing levels and new increased contract levels.
We continue to be somewhat below an optimal staffing level. We had a part-time officer get done, one full-time officer retire,
and our dedicated long time office manager pass away. The transition has been challenging. Our court officer stepped in to
assist me in taking on the load and we have another person supporting the office three days a week. We hired 4 new officers
one full-time and three part-time. We also retired some older cruisers and purchased some new-to-us retired cruisers. We also
purchased in car cameras for several cruisers. In 2024 we will be returning to having officers carry body cameras. While I am
leery of the statewide policy, I feel our department needs them for evidence purposes. I was able to obtain a $20,000
grant to cover the cost for the cameras. This year we also added a website you can view at http:/ /www.ecsdvt.com/.

Our year continued to be one of challenges trying to keep up with changing directives from legislature and needs of the
communities. Our dedicated team put in over 10,000 hours of time serving on the department.

Thank you for your continued support,
Sheriff Trevor Colby
Newport Ambulance Service

With the Completion of our new Troy Station Newport Ambulance has become one of the largest regional ambulance services
in the state of Vermont. Newport Ambulance employs over 60 employees and has 4 stations covering 16 towns, 5 Gores and
Grants and 786sq miles. Our call volume increased from 4500 calls in 2022 to 5300 calls in 2023.
Newport Ambulance’s facilities are located at 830 Union St in Newport, 8437 RTE 111 in Morgan, 6719 RTE 100 in Troy
and 62 Wilson Rd in Johnson.
Currently Newport Ambulance has 6 crews providing 24/7 service. Newport Ambulance has 10 ambulances and a Paramedic
first response car that are stocked and available to respond at the Advanced Life Support level at any time.
Newport Ambulance’s Morgan station houses a crew that is available to respond 24/ 7, serving parts of Derby, Holland,
Morgan, Charleston, and Brighton.
In 2023 Newport Ambulance responded to 153 emergency calls in the Town of Brighton and transported 24 Town residents
from North Country Hospital to receive care in other facilities. We have also responded to a total of 51 calls for mutual aid.

In 2023 Newport Ambulance secured a Vermont state education grant that will help cover the cost of 6 current members to
advance their education and acquire their Paramedic certification. This certification has an estimated cost of over $20,000 per
student. Newport Ambulance will also use these funds to help with continuing education of our other EMS providers.
Newport Ambulance Service thanks you for your support and looks forward to serving you and your community.

Respectfully
Jeffrey J. Johansen,
Executive Director
Newport Ambulance Service Inc

38 Town of Brighton, VT